Sophomore Slump or Comeback of the Year by Paula

Sophomore Slump or Comeback of the Year by Paula - April 2019 Scholarship Essay

In my small town, those who succeed are looked upon with looks of awe and admiration. With that being said, any alternative routes taken to obtain success are frowned upon; I guess you could call us old fashioned. During my freshman year of high school, I was just another fearful kid with wide eyes and big dreams. With that being said, I had decided that the only way to accomplish my dreams would be to take eight classes rather than the traditional six. Doing this was no easy feat, but I was able to find teachers who were willing to stay after class with me in order to properly further my education. I had added a minimum of two extra hours to my class schedule every day while my peers had the freedom of returning home to sleep, study, or spend time together. Despite the added workload, I embraced the challenge because I knew that I was obtaining the requirements to move forward beyond my classmates. My school’s AP United States History (APUSH) class was defined as a rigorous course which would transport students through the founding of our country and all of the obstacles which brought us to where we are today. The only requirement was that a student had taken a U.S. Government course, which I had completed with a teacher after school. The evident completion of this class was on my transcript, but I was still denied a spot in APUSH for the upcoming year. This statement would confuse and upset me, thus sending me into a whirlwind of emotions. It was so unfair that I had been denied the opportunity to grow and learn despite all of my efforts and fair completion of the requirements. Upon calling the head of the history department, I was informed that APUSH was typically a class intended for juniors and he simply wanted to keep it that way. I respectfully ended that conversation, but I did not accept his answer.
For the entirety of the summer leading up to my sophomore year, I would make weekly phone calls to not only significant people in my school but within my entire school district. I was set on a mission to secure my rightfully deserved education. I spent my summer retrieving letters of recommendation from past educators in order to further prove my case. Eventually, after what I’m sure were weeks of pestering phone calls, I was allowed entry into APUSH. While I was so happy to have finally won my fight, I was unaware that I had only conquered half of the battle. AP classes are not offered to freshmen or sophomores in my school, so it’s easy to say that I was not anticipating the workload that I would receive. I have always loved reading and writing, but I think anyone can agree that those activities lose the sense of joy which they emit upon being tedious assignments with prompt due dates. Nevertheless, I persisted. I was able to make a close connection with my teacher, as he was very adamant towards my rightful seat in his classroom. While I did not know any of the upperclassmen in my class, I believe that helped me to stay more on task seeing as though I was too timid to speak up or even raise my hand to use the restroom. Thankfully, the people whom I met along the way helped me to grow out of my shell and into an even better person and student.
While my journey was not an easy one to overcome, the tears and stress were worth it. I am thankful for having endured the innumerous late night study sessions and phone calls because, in the end, I developed into a more well-rounded student at the hands of my supportive educators.